System and method for moisture and ambient humidity level prediction for food doneness

Abstract

A method for controlling a heating process may include recognizing a food class of a food item, defining a target doneness score for the food item based on at least one of the food class and a desired doneness level, receiving a food humidity level, receiving a cavity humidity level, receiving a cavity temperature, determining a current doneness score of the food item according to the food humidity level, the cavity humidity level and the cavity temperature, and utilizing the current doneness score and the target doneness score to control a heating system to cook the food item.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for controlling a heating process, comprising:
 recognizing a food class of a food item;   defining a target doneness score for the food item based on at least one of the food class and a desired doneness level;   receiving a food humidity level;   receiving a cavity humidity level;   receiving a cavity temperature;   determining a current doneness score of the food item according to the food humidity level, the cavity humidity level and the cavity temperature; and   utilizing the current doneness score and the target doneness score to control a heating system to cook the food item.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 sending begin cooking instructions to the heating system to begin cooking the food item; and   sending end cooking instructions to the heating system responsive to the current doneness score reaching the target doneness score.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising identifying the food class of the food item responsive to user input. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising retrieving the target doneness score from a threshold lookup table according to the food class. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the food humidity level is determined based on a voltage difference between a sensed voltage of the food item and a fixed voltage. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , further comprising retrieving the food humidity level from a lookup table according to the voltage difference. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the sensed voltage is provided by a pair of voltage probes inserted into the food item. 
     
     
         8 . A smart oven for controlling a heating process, comprising:
 at least one food humidity sensor for acquiring a food humidity level;   at least one cavity humidity sensor for acquiring a cavity humidity level;   at least one cavity temperature sensor for acquiring a cavity temperature;   a heating system; and   a processor, programmed to
 receive the food humidity level, 
 receive the cavity humidity level, 
 receive the cavity temperature, 
 determine a current doneness score of a food according to the food humidity level, the cavity humidity level and the cavity temperature, and 
 utilize the current doneness score and a target doneness score to control the heating system to cook the food. 
   
     
     
         9 . The smart oven of  claim 8 , wherein the processor is further programmed to:
 send begin cooking instructions to the heating system to begin cooking the food; and   send end cooking instructions to the heating system responsive to the current doneness score reaching at least a minimum doneness likelihood threshold specified by the target doneness score.   
     
     
         10 . The smart oven of  claim 8 , wherein the processor is further programmed to identify a food class of the food responsive to user input. 
     
     
         11 . The smart oven of  claim 10 , wherein the processor is further programmed to retrieve the target doneness score from a threshold lookup table according to the food class. 
     
     
         12 . The smart oven of  claim 8 , wherein the food humidity sensor is a probe sensor having a pair of probes configured to be inserted into the food. 
     
     
         13 . The smart oven of  claim 12 , wherein the probe sensor is configured to provide a sensed voltage and the processor is further programmed to determine the food humidity level based on a voltage difference between the sensed voltage of the food and a fixed voltage. 
     
     
         14 . The smart oven of  claim 13 , wherein the processor is further programmed to retrieve the food humidity level from a lookup table according to the voltage difference. 
     
     
         15 . A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions controlling a heating process that, when executed by a processor of a smart oven, cause the smart oven to perform operations including to:
 recognizing a food class of a food item;   defining a target doneness score for the food item based on at least one of the food class;   determining a current doneness score of the food item according to at least a food humidity level; and   utilizing the current doneness score and the target doneness score to control a heating system to cook the food item.   
     
     
         16 . The medium of  claim 15 , further comprising instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the smart oven to perform operations including to:
 send begin cooking instructions to the heating system to begin cooking the food item; and   send end cooking instructions to the heating system responsive to the current doneness score reaching at least a minimum doneness likelihood threshold specified by the target doneness score.   
     
     
         17 . The medium of  claim 15 , further comprising instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the smart oven to perform operations including to identify the food class of the food item responsive to user input. 
     
     
         18 . The medium of  claim 15 , further comprising instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the smart oven to perform operations including to retrieve the target doneness score from a threshold lookup table according to the food class. 
     
     
         19 . The medium of  claim 15 , wherein the food humidity level is determined based on a voltage difference between a sensed voltage of the food item and a fixed voltage. 
     
     
         20 . The medium of  claim 19 , further comprising retrieving the food humidity level from a lookup table according to the voltage difference.